KOCHI: Your looks can cost you, especially when you try to board a Kerala state owned low-floor bus, said Paul Raj, a resident of Aranmula in Pathanamthitta in a complaint filed with the Transport Minister.
Paul Raj and his son had to chase a bus in an autorickshaw after it refused to stop for him as he was wearing a ‘dhoti’.
“I was waiting for the KURTC bus from Pathanamthitta to Thrissur to drop my son Aravind, who had an internship in Thrissur, from 5.15 am on Monday.
The bus reached after some 20 minutes and though we raised our hands as a signal, the driver sped away. Immediately, I followed the bus in an auto rickshaw and overtook it after some seven km.
I asked the driver why he did not stop, to which I was told that it was because of my dhoti. Suddenly the conductor added there was no stop where we were standing,” said Paul Raj.
Then Paul Raj, a promoter of Khadi told the crew that he has boarded the same bus from the same stop at least 20 times between November 2016 and January 2017.
“I informed this incident to the DTO and then sent a complaint to the transport minister. I had to pay Rs 200 as charges for the autorickshaw. I waited for this bus and followed it as it was the only direct bus service from our area to reach Thrissur,” he said.
Nearly 200 air conditioned low-floor buses are plying all over the state under Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) which charges higher than other buses.